The Taking Part survey results for April 2017 on diversity trends and museums and galleries have been published.
Diversity Trends, 2005/06 to 2015/16 reveals significant increases in heritage engagement across almost all demographic groups. Engagement levels are higher for white people, the upper socio-economic group and for those without longstanding illness or disability. Arts engagement is significantly lower for the Asian ethnic group than for the White and Black ethnic groups. These differences have persisted over the period 2005/06 to 2015/16, but there has been a slight narrowing of the engagement gap for socio-economic group and disability status.
Focus on Museums and galleries found that in 2015/16, 52.5% of adults had visited a museum or gallery in the last year, a significant increase from 42.3% in 2005/06, but a similar proportion to 52.0% in 2014/15.In 2015/16, among respondents who said they visited museums or galleries more often, 14.2% said the main reason was because there were more exhibitions that interested them. Of those who had visited less often, 31.0% stated said that the main reason was because they had less free time.
The latest official figures on museums and galleries monthly visits show that in March 2017 there were a total of 4 million visits to the DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries. This is a decrease of 4.3% (178,000 visits) compared with March 2016.